College of Winterhold (The New Kingdoms)
The College of Winterhold is a faction in The New Kingdoms RP. It is a institution solely designed for pushing the boundaries of magic and has next to no official rules. Siris Steelfang was one of the former Archmages, as was his father Raydin. One of the former Master Wizards is Claude Vauban. Fanari Nikulson is nominally the Archmage for now, in the absence of Siris after he left the Aurbis. If Siris will return to head his faction is unknown. Fanari's attempts to restore the College after Siris pulled it out of the Aurbis have so far met with no significant returns, although she remains hopeful. Staffing and Lessons The College has 30 teachers, not including the Archmage and Master Wizard. Each school has five teachers, of which one is the department head. There are no official lessons per se. There is only private tuition by the teachers for students who ask and the odd lecture every now and then on a new magical form or a new way to use old magic. It is mostly self practice, which is enforced by the intense competition. Students are allowed to practice any time of the day in the hall of the elements or the magic testing laboratories scattered around the Midden. There is no need for staff supervision when using such facilities. The College also has fencing lessons for their mages. It is preperation in case the students run out of magicka in a dangerous situation, so they can use mundane weapons to protect themselves. The College hands out Dwarven katanas to all its students who do not already have a weapon. They actively promote buying a good sword and a dagger, for self defence. Staves are banned in the College for student use. This is to force students to rely on their own magical power and not that of a staff. After all, a mage can't really lose his or her magic, but might lose a staff. Enchanted clothing is allowed, but only for starting mages. More powerful mages are always encouraged to rely on their inner magicka reserves and regeneration rather than on enchanted gear, since the College's believes that true power comes from within, not one's equipment. Mages are also encouraged to train in armor and none of the staff wear normal robes, instead wearing armor plated ones, since mage armor is seen as an unreliable way to protect oneself. The staff's armored robes are always non enchanted and none of them carry staves or enchanted weaponry. Any weapon that appears to be enchanted is because the staff members are actually actively channeling magic through the weapons. Enchanting is encouraged, but using enchanted gear is frowned upon. Facilities There are 4 halls for sleeping after Raydin had the College renovated. The Hall of Counternance and Hall of Attainment stay, but two more halls, named the Hall of Tranquility and the Hall of Enlightenment have been added. There are snack and alcohol bars in each hall. Every hall has bathrooms and shower facilities. The Midden is sealed off to the outside world and includes the following facilities: * A forge powered by magical flame * An armory * A library with virtually every known spell tome in existence. * Eating area and kitchen * Bars that have unlimited mead flow * Atronach forge * Augur of Dunlain * Sleeping areas for guests and extra accomodations * A pair of mysterious portals to weird vaults. These vaults can only be opened by Raydin or Siris and two other Shadow Watch/Staff members. * A transmutation room * A gold mint (that somehow has nigh infinite gold. It's the "money room") * The office of the Master Wizard * Dungeons * The Staffroom * An Oculory that shows the whole Aurbis in three dimensions and can scan for people, artefacts and other magical sources. * Blood potion bottling room * Vampire and Werewolf curing machine * Vampire and Werewolf creating laboratory * Many, many magic testing facilities. * A portal to Siris' castle Veritas Ivorie The Archmage sleeps and works in his private quarters, which is protected by a magical defence system that can vaporise anything. It is thus not recommended to enter without his permission, unless one is his wife or children. Instead of an alchemy garden, a large bathroom fitted with many luxurious facilities takes up the central area, as there are many underground Alchemy gardens and the Archmage never uses the one in his room anyway. The Arcaneum now contains a small cafe and has books not related to magic. It serves as a lounge for relaxation. Much of the books there are historical records, fiction or biographies. The magical tomes have all been moved to an underground library. The entire College has hidden lightning turrets that can unleash massive barrages of chain lightning if the College is attacked, with automatic targeting. It also has a shield generator and a storm generator, which can replicate the effects of Storm Call, except more powerful, and for an unlimited time. To protect against catapult barrages, the College also has icy spear turrets that fire icy spears capable of shattering catapult stones, even though the shield forms a physical barrier as well as a magical one. The shield generated by the College extends through all dimensions, preventing any form of teleportation in or out of the college, unless one is a member of the Archmage's family. Attempts to teleport generally leave a bloody smear on the shield. The shield is impermeable to all powers and attacks, magical or not. This is achieved by having the College as a portion of a daedric dimension. After Siris left, the original College was dragged into Euphoria, the plane of the Steelfangs, which explained the powers of the shield, since accessing the College was pretty much accessing Euphoria. Fanari Nikulson rebuilt the structure with her immense magical capability, but it is unknown if the College will recover to its former glory in the absence of its true leader. Rules and Regulations There are almost no rules in the College. Students are free to duel each other and death is treated quite trivially. Vampire, Werewolf and Daedra worshipping members are allowed and treated equally. After Raydin's second set of reforms, dueling must now be watched over by a destruction and restoration teacher, or it is not allowed, although violations are not uncommon. Siris Steelfang introduced more changes to finalize the College as a premier institute of magic. There are unspoken rules, though: # Do not assault the staff members. Generally, this is followed because anyone who assaulted a staff member normally died or had horrific injuries. # Respect the Archmage and Master Wizard. Again, this is due to fear. # Do not harass other members of the College. # Do not probe each other's personal lives. Respect other's life choices, even if they seem unsavoury. # Do not assassinate fellow members. Duel openly (this rule is rarely obeyed, but punishable by death if found out) # Stay out of the way of all members of the Archmage's family. Again, this is due to fear of the family members and is not enforced. # Always clean up any mess you make. Trivia * Many mages who were part of the College of Winterhold from TES V: Skyrim return as members of the College. J'zargo and Onmund are the most notable ones who return, as older versions of themselves, in new posts. They notably also have more unique personalities. * Many Shadow Watch members are part of the College. Examples include Tavion, Claude Vauban, Koranus and of course Raydin and Siris Steelfang. * The College gates are guarded by a Tranquil Guardian and a Daedric Succubus. The gates do not open if one approaches them, unless one is part of the College. Winterhold is patrolled by such pairs and lesser daedra. * Contrary to popular belief, the Shield of the College does cover the gate. The shield creates a gap to allow people to pass through. * The college contains futuristic technologies such as Jaccuzis and Liquid Soulgem Displays (basically television), all self developed. Siris Steelfang owns a game console. Category:Factions